it actually sounds like it might be great. it's the performance on the clips that don't do it any favours. for one, the player is doing silly things with the speed pedal, and second, he never sets it at a slow, jimi-style speed, which is what we really, first & foremost, wanna hear if it can do. the unit itself sounds pretty lush & warm though. i'll have to listen again later, as it's too early for me to turn it up here.

I thought all of his pedals sounded pretty weak - warm, yes - great, no. I never understand why they post such crappy clips to hawk an expensive unit like that - for that kind of $$$ I want to really hear what the thing can do.

Michael Ibrahim of MI Audio does his own clips - not the greatest player by his own admission - but his clips are incredibly thorough and give you a very real sense of his pedals capabilities. I wish everybody would follow his example - a few noodly passages on one setting does not help me make an informed decision...

Originally posted by erksin I thought all of his pedals sounded pretty weak - warm, yes - great, no. I never understand why they post such crappy clips to hawk an expensive unit like that - for that kind of $$$ I want to really hear what the thing can do.

Michael Ibrahim of MI Audio does his own clips - not the greatest player by his own admission - but his clips are incredibly thorough and give you a very real sense of his pedals capabilities. I wish everybody would follow his example - a few noodly passages on one setting does not help me make an informed decision...

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Good points. I have always felt the sound clips on botique pedals are often the weak point. I don't need to hear a "pro" playing, but I want to hear the pedal as it is likely to be able to sound through "regular" amps with regular guitars.

I also want to hear it in different situations, with different settings, and especially want to hear it doing the same passage clean with no effect first...that to me is the most important to hear how it is setup without the effect.

In fact, my ideal would be, you go to a site, pick your main guitar type, main amp type (or style...just like the modelers do, pick "blackface" or "british" or "vintage") and then hear it clean, then with the effect in different configurations.

It wouldn't be all that hard. In fact, I get kind of amazed that they don't do more with sound clips since it is the real test of the pedal. Sometimes I go by reviews and word-of-mouth, but you get a lot of dissapointments that way too.

Yes, for $400 I think paying a studio musician or at least somebody that can play a vibe well would be well worth it. Considering it's all we have to go by, those clips are indeed possibly doing more harm than good.

Originally posted by gururyan Yes, for $400 I think paying a studio musician or at least somebody that can play a vibe well would be well worth it. Considering it's all we have to go by, those clips are indeed possibly doing more harm than good.

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Agreed - the clips are the pedal makers only real interface with potential customers if they aren't easily available to demo in person. I don't think it's a queation of the demo player's abilities, though - it's rather a question of doing a thorough demo of the pedals capabilities/sounds. How many times do you hear just one 15 second clip of a pedal doing one sound, but the description goes on about how versatile the box is? Frustrating for sure - that's why it's been so helpful to have guys like The Gainster here who actually put some thought into their pedal demos...

Originally posted by erksin Agreed - the clips are the pedal makers only real interface with potential customers if they aren't easily available to demo in person. I don't think it's a queation of the demo player's abilities, though - it's rather a question of doing a thorough demo of the pedals capabilities/sounds. How many times do you hear just one 15 second clip of a pedal doing one sound, but the description goes on about how versatile the box is? Frustrating for sure - that's why it's been so helpful to have guys like The Gainster here who actually put some thought into their pedal demos...

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Yeah....that really is THE thing. Sound clips are needed, and ought to be done well.

Sometimes you hear a sound clip like this one, and think "maybe the pedal could be good but I can't tell" and other sites you hear EXACTLY that sound you want and wonder "yeah...but is this some incredibly expensive guitar, through the pedal, and into like a Dumble (not that I know what a Dumble sounds like) or some exotic amp....

That's why I think if I ever market some pedals, I am going to spend a LOT of time on the sound clips, making sure the listener hears how it sounds naked...so they can either think "oooh...I can get that sound, and then if I turn the pedal on it probably will sound a lot like THAT!"

seeing the tubes stick out like that is cool to stare at... but if I was really gigging and moving gear around, it just seems all too easy to break them. That rail guard might be good against size 12 shoes, but what happens if it meets a 12 oz beer?